Introduction to our Meeting Chatroom

Getting Started:

The simplest way to enter our meeting chat room is to use any of our website's links, such as the "Enter Chat Room" link under the left-side "Meetings" heading, or the one here.  These links take you to a customized Mibbit.com page that pre-selects the network (irc.slashnet.org) and channel (#enap), so all you have to do is enter your nickname.

Our links take you to a web page like this (it may take several seconds to come up; be patient):


Replace the "FirstandLastname" text with your name, but with no spaces or special characters, such as "TomOLearySmith"; and then click "Connect." Guests/visitors should use the "g_" prefix (e.g., g_TomJones).

This should take you to our chat room, which will look similar to this (again, be patient for this to appear):

Type "Hi" in the Message Entry Textbox and press your Enter key.  It should then display in the Chat Room next to the time and your nickname.  Practice:
"MC" [or "MP"] [Enter]
"I move to have our website colors be green." [Enter]
"Goodnight." [Enter]
/quit [Enter]

The last line above enters the /quit command to log you out of the chat room.

See the left-side links under "Resources" for more advanced information about chat rooms, including special software you can download to your computer to give you alternative ways to connect to the chat room, such as mIRC.

Emergency Alternative Chat Rooms:

In the event that the slashnet.org network is down, the President will email all members of an alternative network and channel (chat room).  Most likely one of these:

Option 1: http://www.mibbit.com/?server=irc.blitzed.org&channel=%23enap     (IRC Network: blitzed; Channel: #enap)

Option 2: http://www.mibbit.com/?server=irc.efnet.org&channel=%23enap     (IRC Network: efnet; Channel: #enap)

Option 1B: If www.mibbit.com is down, we will likely use the blitzed.org network.  Online go to http://cgiirc.blitzed.org/ and change the Nickname and Channel (#enap).

Option 2B: Online go to http://chat.efnet.org/ and change the Nickname; select Channel "Other"; enter Channel #enap; click Login.  Note: nicknames on this network are limited to 9 characters.

Common eNAP Abbreviations:

    MC = Mister / Madam Chairman (to obtain the floor)
    MP = Mister / Madam President (to obtain the floor) 
    CR = Chair Recognizes
    PO = Point of Order
    MS = Moved and Seconded

IRC Commands:

    /nick NewName     (to change your nickname to NewName)
    /away for 3 minutes     (to indicate you are away from the chat room, e.g., to handle a phone call; so we know if we lose a quorum!)
    /back     (or just /away with nothing after it with some IRC programs, to indicate you are back, no longer away)
    /quit     (to exit the chat room after the meeting is over, or when you have to leave early and don't expect to return)

Long motions or debate:

Others can't see what you type as you type.  They can only see what you type once you press your Enter (or Return) key (or perhaps click a Send button).  So if your message takes more than about 30 seconds to enter, it is best to type about 30-60 seconds' worth of it, add "..." to indicate more is to come, and press Enter.  That will give others part of your message to be reading while you continue to type the next part.  End each part with "..." until the last part, which you should end with "END" to yield the floor.

If you have a motion or debate speech already on the computer (e.g., in a document or email or web page), you can copy and paste it, even if it is more than one line long.  BUT you should not paste more than about 2 or 3 lines worth of text.  After pasting text into the Message Entry box, check to see if all of it was pasted, or if it was truncated, with excess text chopped off.

To paste longer text, use a feature like the PasteBin feature (click the PasteBin link beneath the text entry box if using Mibbit.com).  This could be used for minutes or long resolutions or bylaws.  See bottom of image above for instructions.

The Upload file feature (near the PasteBin link) can also be used if formatting is important to retain, such as italics, bolding, or overstruck text.
Tables also cannot be retained with the PasteBin feature
but can be used with the Upload file feature.
The downside to using [Upload file] is that it may take longer to post or to view, and the person viewing it has to have the program to view that type of document, such as Microsoft Word to view a Word file.

Proposed Special Rules of Order relating to long motions or debate:

8. Speeches in debate shall be limited to 3 minutes each.  When a member has the floor, the member shall have no more than 60 seconds before submitting a complete or partial posting. 

A partial posting shall be ended with "..." to indicate that the member is typing another part of the post.  Multipart postings shall be ended with "END" to yield the floor.

10. IRC software for PasteBin or UploadFile or some other suitable means shall be used for posting text longer than about 5 lines.

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